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In 2005 Good Friday falls on March 25th, the Feast of the Annunciation.
We talked about this at the priests� Presbyteral Days in the Poconos for the Eparchy of Passaic. I thought it would be interesting to hear our resident liturgists banter about�..well, what to celebrate and how.
Me, I would move the Annunciation to Palm Sunday, and wear blue, or keep it on Good Friday, and ..wear Blue and black???.......but that�s just me ;-)!

Fr. Michael Sopoliga

From my layman�s understanding of the Byzantine liturgical tradition (and off the top of my head) the two celebrations are woven together as follows:

-On Great Thursday we celebrate the Vespers and the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great. At Psalm 140 we take the stichera of the Great Friday, then of the Feast of the Annunciation, Glory, the sticheron of Great Friday and �Now and ever� and the hymn for Annunciation. The readings for the Vespers are taken for the eve of Great Friday and then for the Feast of the Annunciation. The rest of the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil is taken as usual, but with the two hymns instead of �It is truly proper�.

-Compline would probably be the three odes from the Triodion together with odes from the Annunciation.

-Matins would also interweave the texts of the two days. �God the Lord� would be sung in place of the �Alleluia� with the usual verses, then the Troparion of the Annunciation followed by the �When the glorious disciples were enlightened�. My guess is that the Matins Gospel for the Annunciation would be prayed prior to the First Gospel of Great Friday Matins, and that the hymns would be interwoven throughout the service.

-At the Royal Hours we would take the proper texts first for Great Friday and then for the Annunciation.

-At Vespers on Great and Holy Friday night, at Psalm 140 we would take the stichera for Great Friday, then for Annunciation (in the same format as outlined above). Both sets of readings would be taken and the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom would be celebrated in the usual Vesper/Divine Liturgy format. The usual irmos of Annunciation would be taken instead of �It is truly proper�. After the Ambon Prayer and �Blessed be the name of the Lord� the priest would exit the north door with the Shroud and the usual procession would take place.

I wonder if rubrics exist for the color of vestments to be worn at these services? I�d recommend bright vestments from the Vespers and Divine Liturgy of St. Basil up until at least the procession with the Shroud and the entombment at Great Friday night vespers. Blue and black together? Hmm�. That can be reversed to black and blue!

Of course, the bishops will surely provide directives.

...and fasting?

Great and Holy Thursday would be a day of fasting, but oil and wine would be allowed after the Vespers and Divine Liturgy.

Great and Holy Friday would be a day of strict fast, but wine would be allowed after the Vespers and Divine Liturgy.

"Of course, the bishops will surely provide directives."

Not only directives, but actual service folders, so that the unique combination of texts/melodies can be followed by priests, cantors, and faithful.

They should be out by November of 2004.

(Prof.) J. Michael Thompson
Byzantine Catholic Seminary
Pittsburgh, PA

Yes, the rough drafts have already been prepared and are currently in review. Normally I only automatically provide copies of liturgical books to subscribers but for next year every parish will receive a courtesy �master� copy as well as the opportunity to purchase multiple copies for the cost of the printing.

I hope no one minds a comment from outside the household of this "in house" discussion... but, as should be obvious (as it is to Professor Thompson and the Administrator), the Typicon already gives the rubrics for the celebration of the Annunciation on Great and Holy Friday. That is, there's nothing new here, and certainly nothing to "banter" about.

Priest Thomas

Father Thomas,

Thanks for your post. You are, of course, exactly correct.

I am very much looking forward to next year�s celebration of these two feasts. The Feast of the Annunciation has not fallen on Great and Holy Friday during my lifetime (at least that I remember). I do remember the pastor of the parish I grew up in telling me that Annunciation fell on Holy Friday twice in his lifetime, and that the weaving of the texts was pretty awesome.

Annunciation has fallen on Great and Holy Saturday twice in my memory, 1978 and 1989. In 1989 I prepared special booklets weaving the Vespers of Holy and Great Friday together with the texts of the Annunciation. This book was used in about half of our parishes. At the parish I belong to, it was an incredible, prayerful celebration. The only exception to the typicon the pastor asked was that we sing the Troparion of the Annunciation before the Troparion of Great Friday (�The noble Joseph�.�). After Simeon�s Canticle the priest came before the icon of the Theotokos on the icon screen and we sang the Troparion of the Annunciation. Then he went into the altar and exited the north door with the Shroud and we started singing �The noble Joseph�. Then, after the dismissal of Vespers, with the clergy and servers standing before the Tomb the people sang �O Godbearer Virgin�. People were weeping. Since then I have provided a special booklet weaving together the proper texts (with music) for Annunciation.

Admin

I was, in fact, referring to materials authorized by the Council of Hierarchs to be sent out to the parishes of the Metropolia.

(Prof.) J. Michael Thompson
Byzantine Catholic Seminary
Pittsburgh, PA

Father Thomas--

Christ is risen!

I have one word to say to you: BRAVO!!!

Thanks!

John

PS. Maybe we should just move to the revised Julian calendar in 2005 and then there won't be anything to "banter" about!

Dear Fr. Michael,

I'm on a bit of a mission to find out how many Eastern Catholics wear black vestments on these most solemn of days. You seem clearly to do. Where did have them made? Is this a common thing in your eparchy?

My second question is for this overall discussion: why do we not simply transfer the Feast to another day during these exceptional years?

Adam

Adam,

Many parishes in the Pittsburgh Metropolia use black on Good Friday, mine included, although I do not have a black set myself.

Fr. Deacon Lance

Because that is not what the Typicon prescribes?

I�m sure that Father Michael will respond and I look forward to his response. It is my understanding that the use of black among the Slavic Byzantines is a latinization from the Polish Roman Catholics.

There is a very interesting logic here. If the Angel hadn�t appeared to Mary and if Mary had not said �Yes!� to God, then there would have been no Birth, no Crucifixion, and no Resurrection. To transfer the feast to another day is to indicate that it is less important than the Great Friday celebration of the Crucifixion. To devalue the feast in such a way irks the logic of Byzantines.

My parish uses black on Great Friday for both the priest and all the hangings and altar coverings. They are worn on Great Saturday as well up until the Gospel when the priest changes to white and removes the black coverings from the Altar and everywhere else.